Stronger(What Doesn't Kill You)
by uoduck
Summary: One night when Oliver is about to turn in after a busy night of patrolling, he encounters a couple of assholes and a dog. Harry/Oliver.
1. Chapter 1

AN:

I don't own Arrow or Harry Potter.

Also, this takes place during Season 1 of Arrow.

The title of this fic is taken from the song by Kelly Clarkson of the same name.

* * *

><p>Just as Oliver was about to head back to his club after patrolling the city, he heard a loud but pained bark. He raised an eyebrow and decided to check it out, following the continued barking and growling as it grew more and more aggressive. As he grew closer, he could hear teenage boys yelling and generally being asses of themselves at... Oliver pulled out his phone that he used when he was suited up and checked the time. The teenage boys were being asses of themselves at nearly 11:30at night. Or he assumed they were being assholes.<p>

When he came upon the scene, he flinched inwardly. A couple of teenage boys were taunting a clearly injured big dog and had cornered it. One of the boys had a knife in his hand and it had blood on it. It wasn't too hard for Oliver to connect the dots; boys cornering a dog that had a knife wound and one of the boys Oliver could see had a knife. And even though Oliver went through what had happened to him on the Island, he still had a soft spot for dogs.

He didn't draw and knock his bow as these guys were still teenagers. Though then again, if they had hurt a dog, who knew what they would go on to do. And he was unwilling to let an injured, innocent dog walk around Starling City when he could do something about it.

"Hey!"

* * *

><p>As soon as Oliver had dispatched the kids(not killing them, just scaring them), he quietly walked up to the dog. It was a big dog, maybe about 26 inches and roughly 70 pounds if he was any judge of dog weight. It was definitely some kind of shepherd, mostly light brown with a black muzzle and snout, along with long legs and a somewhat lean body. Oliver would have thought that injured dogs, especially this one because it didn't have a collar, would have growled at him as he probably looked and smelled like the boys.<p>

But the dog only looked at him with deep green eyes and nodded its' head at him as if thanking him.

Oliver lifted an eyebrow at it then was about to take off when he thought differently. The dog was injured and despite the fact that it was probably feral, that wound needed taking care of. And he could see no signs of rabies or anything else. Though as the dog stared at Oliver, its' eyes seemed to have more intelligence in them than other dogs that Oliver had met.

"Hey, you want to come with me? I have food with me," Oliver murmured though that was a lie. He didn't have any food in the lair but there was food at the Queen mansion. Maybe the dog would be willing enough to come with him without putting up a fight.

"I'm going to come closer, okay?" Oliver again whispered, holding out his hands in a calming gesture. Again the dog seemed to know what he was going to do as it lay down, presenting the side with the wound. The wound, as Oliver padded closer, was small enough for a pressure bandage.

Oliver reached into his small kit that he brought with him and brought out the only bandage that he had and glanced at the dog again. It was staring at him calmly and gestured with its' nose to the wound, as if saying get on with it. Oliver shook his head at the trust the dog was granting him and pressed the bandage to the wound and taping it there with bandage from his kit. As he touched the wound, he heard the dog start to whine low in its' throat. Oliver reached one hand to stroke the dog's flank, hoping that it would soothe the animal. He would sew the wound up back in the lair.

Once that was done, the dog glanced at it then stood up and started to take a few shaky steps. Oliver's eyes widened as the dog proceeded to walk off as soon as it had steadied itself but just as Oliver decided he would never see the dog again, it walked back to him and touched its' cold nose to his hand. The dog gave an agitated yip and glanced at him.

"You coming with me then?"

The dog gave a quiet bark and waited for Oliver. He blinked then repacked his kit and took off for his club, hearing the dog follow behind at a slower pace, occasionally giving a quiet pained bark.

* * *

><p>The dog was near to keeling over by the time Oliver arrived at the club. As Oliver walked around to the back, he startled when he saw the dog come up to walk alongside him, almost leaning on Oliver. He raised an eyebrow then sighed. He knelt down to look the dog in the eyes and studied it. The dog stared at him, searching for something.<p>

The dog seemed to have found what it was looking for a minute later and sighed. Oliver reached out his arms and the dog slowly walked into his arms and let Oliver scoop it up.

"Ooof, you're heavy," Oliver murmured then stilled as he felt the dog curl into his chest and promptly passed out. Though he did notice that there was just the normal amount of heat coming from the dog so the animal wasn't ill or anything like that. "But not too heavy."

Oliver managed to open the door to the club somehow with the dog still in his arms and went over to the hidden door at the back. He looked down at the dog, who was still unconscious, then glanced at the keypad that would allow him entrance to his... Felicity would call it a lair or den, he was very sure of that. Oliver chuckled quietly then set his mind to his task.

He pulled off a complicated maneuver that allowed him to keep the dog in his arms and type in the required numbers. He nudged the door open with his foot then strode down the stairs.

"Oliver, you're back!" Diggle called out.

Oliver saw him coming from the back of the den with a water bottle in his hand. Oliver stopped at the foot of the stairs, waiting. Felicity was typing hurriedly away at the computer station that she had installed and was just swiveling in the chair to face him with a smile. Though when she saw what he was holding in his arms, she gasped and stood up. Diggle had a small smile on his face but then walked over to the table in the center of their workspace and cleared it off.

"What happened? Oliver?" Felicity exclaimed, coming over to stand in front of him. One of her hands started to reach out but she apparently thought better of it.

"I overheard four teenage boys taunting this dog," Oliver replied, watching his two partners. Diggle was already getting out the bandages and the first kit. Oliver was pretty sure that Diggle kept a well stocked first aid kit down here, including some machines, after he failed to bring down the dark archer. "I scared them off with a warning but the dog was already injured."

"Taunting?" Felicity exclaimed, her eyes on the dog. "That's horrible!"

"It looks like the dog trusted you," Diggle finally commented as his gaze went from Oliver to the dog.

"Yes, it did seem to," Oliver replied, walking over to the table where Diggle had placed an old towel on it. He gently lowered the dog onto it then went to put his bow in its' case. "Actually, it seemed to be more intelligent than most dogs tend to be."

"Hmm," Diggle murmured, looking the dog over. "It looks like the kind of dogs that worked with my unit back in the war. They were very smart and loyal."

Oliver watched as Felicity walked over to the table and hesitantly reached out an arm to lay it on the dog's back. The dog startled a little, waking up and looking around at its' surroundings then turned to glance at Felicity. She gave a small smile in reassurance and the dog's tail wagged a little.

"That could be it," Oliver replied thoughtfully. He started to pull off his uniform and hang it up on its' pedestal then walked over to the table.

"The dog has no collar," Felicity commented, stroking the dog's back. The dog seemed to be really enjoying the attention though it squirmed away when Felicity accidentally went too close to the wound.

"Oops, I'm sorry!" Felicity exclaimed, looking stricken. The dog whined, turning it's head to face Felicity and licked her hand a little. She chuckled nervously but relaxed.

Oliver smiled, going over to wash his hands at the sink in the bathroom that he had had installed here. Once done with that, he strode over to the dog and pulled out a needle and some string.

"I assumed it to be a stray," Oliver replied.

Diggle came and lightly placed his hand on the dog's back, nodding at Oliver.

Oliver then drew out some of the local anesthetic that they had(Diggle had put some in the first aid kit) and injected it into the wound. Then they got to work sewing up the wound.


	2. Chapter 2

Felicity watched as Oliver and Diggle went about sewing the dog's wounds up. She herself was standing at the dog's head, stroking its' fur in what she hoped was a soothing manner. Though, judging by the way the dog was just placidly staring at the three of them without whimpering or whining or attempting to bite her did say something about the dog.

It, Felicity took a quick glance to the dog's underbelly, or he, had gotten hurt much worse than this.

"The dog's a male," Felicity announced to the two men in the room.

She heard Oliver and Diggle make noises of agreement or they were probably more likely noises of 'oh I heard you, I'm just too busy to reply at the moment'.

"Are we going to just adopt this dog then?" Felicity asked, petting the dog's back. "I mean, it would be nice having a dog around. It would certainly balance out the both of you. It is a stray after all."

It took a few minutes, but Oliver and Diggle finished up their operation.

"Hey, Felicity, would you mind looking up what kind of breed this dog is?" Oliver asked, as he snipped the string.

"Yeah, sure, give me a minute," Felicity said, striding over to her computers and sitting down.

"You said something about adoption?" Diggle remarked, turning to walk over to Felicity's side.

"Well, the dog doesn't have a home," Felicity replied, pulling up the internet browser that she used and typing in the needed information.

She waited for google to do its' work and glanced at the answer. "Hmm, I think he's a Belgian Malinois, judging by the coloring. It is a breed used in the military, John. You were right."

Diggle nodded and started to clean up the supplies.

"Well, if we're going to have a dog running around the lair, then I should probably get some dog food and a water bowl," Felicity said. "I'll go get some tomorrow."

"Thanks," Oliver replied then turned to look at the dog. "I suppose he could come home with me? Or we could take turns?"

The dog glanced up at Oliver and gave a small yip, touching its' snout to Oliver's chest. The three of them watched as the dog started to stand up and was about to jump off the table when Oliver held out his hands to stop him.

"Whoa! You're not going to be doing any gymnastics with a knife wound," Oliver exclaimed and wrapped his arms around the dog and gently lowered it to the ground.

"I guess that answers that," Diggle replied, grinning. "I'll go get the car and bring it around to the side alley."

"Thanks," Oliver said, watching the dog as it hesitantly sat at his feet. Diggle went to walk up the stairs and left through the door.

"The dog needs a name," Felicity remarked.

"Do you have something in mind?" Oliver asked, glancing at Felicity.

Felicity looked down at the dog, who looked up at her. "Maybe... Zeus?"

"Did you guys see the stripe of fur on his head?" Felicity asked, stroking the dog's head. Oliver and Diggle came over to look at where Felicity was pointing. "It looks like a lightening bolt."

* * *

><p>Harry looked up at the man who had found him in the Glades. But as far as names went, it was good enough. But he just yipped, hopeful that it sounded agreeing when Felicity suggested Zeus for a name. He hoped that he wasn't giving off unusual vibes for a dog; he didn't want anyone to look at him weirdly or... What had happened back in London was why he took an anonymous portkey to the States and hadn't let anyone know he was going.<p>

The war had lasted six years too long for him and with him being forced to go through experiments. Dumbledore had talked all about, "it'll help you to defeat Voldemort" and "it won't last forever". Well, three months had turned into five then into six then into a full year complete with experiments that more often than not took a turn into torture.

And now, he had spent perhaps a year in his animagus form, taking a long overdue pseudo vacation. Someone would consider what he did running but he believed he had escaped from the poisonous atmosphere that was the wizarding world of Britain. His friends had understood well enough, even going so far as to help him to leave the country.

He turned his head to look at the knife wound then glanced up at Oliver. The man had been all too proficient at cleaning his wound and stitching it up. Not to mention the whole uniform and using a bow and arrow to threaten criminals with.

Oh, he had heard of the Arrow, the masked vigilante that had been running around Starling City. It hadn't made a difference on the city that he had picked but Harry had certainly been a little curious.

"Well, I guess you're coming home with me then," Oliver said, breaking into Harry's thoughts. The man had apparently changed back into civilian clothes while Harry had been pondering him. "Let's go."

Harry padded over to catch up to the man, limping a little. He followed him out the door they had entered in and Harry looked up to see a car driving into the alleyway before them. Oliver opened the door and gestured for him to jump in.

"Slowly though," Oliver ordered watching as Harry cautiously put his paws up onto the car and walked up into the car's backseat. After Oliver slid into the car and closed the door, the car took off almost immediately with the man named Diggle in the front seat.

Harry shuffled over to the other side of the car and propped his head up onto the window, making sure not to put any weight on his body. He watched the streets go by, reluctantly acknowledging the fact that without the experiments done on him, he wouldn't be able to see this good at night. And he judged that it was maybe 2 or 3am; well past midnight but far enough away from dawn that there was no natural light. He absently heard Oliver and Diggle talk about something but he didn't really pay attention to their conversation. Though he did catch something about someone named Helena and some talk of another woman named McKenna.

Harry hadn't really noticed what the building was that Oliver had led him to but it apparently had been a bar, judging by the neon lights and the word, "Verdant" at the front of it. As the car rolled on, they passed more streets that were probably considered the 'good side' of town. He was well aware of the Glades, the lower income and 'shady' part of the city; hell, that was where Oliver had found him. He had been aiming to blend in there, just another stray dog. But then a group of teenage boys had cornered him and one of them had thrown a knife at him, injuring him.

That reminded him of more of the results of the experiments; he turned around to glance at his side, sniffing at it. The stitching had been well done; Diggle had probably been in the army but he didn't know how Oliver had come by those kinds of skills.

"Hey, don't lick it," Oliver cut into his thoughts, reaching out a hand to nudge his head away.

Harry gave a low whine in his throat but subsided, lying back on the seat and curling up. He totally would not have licked the wound. Besides, it was starting to itch, meaning that it was starting to heal. He would either have to reveal himself soon or figure something out. And he didn't want any owls finding him; not with the current minister being all over his The-Boy-Who-Lived popularity.

* * *

><p>It was nearly thirty minutes later that the car stopped in front of a huge mansion. Harry peered up, out of the car window, staring. It looked a bit like Hogwarts but it was definitely much smaller. But it was certainly a mansion, with bodyguards and everything. The door was opened as Harry noticed that Diggle had gotten out and acted all 'bodyguard' like and oh... He supposed that was his cue to exit the car. He unfolded his tired limbs, panting a little then slid down and out from the car, landing surprisingly on four legs.<p>

He may have been more tired than he thought he was.

"Come on, Zeus. Let's get you settled," Oliver remarked, getting out of the car and walking around to stand alongside him. "Though we should be quiet. My mom and sister are probably sleeping."

Harry gave a quiet yip of agreement and followed the man, yawning sleepily. As they entered the mansion, he stared and stared some more. He was peripherally aware of Queen Consolidated but hadn't really 'registered' the connection between the company and the family. The mansion was well kept up; he couldn't spot a pinch of dust. There were many paintings, that were of course, not moving. Oliver led him up a flight of stairs and down a hallway to a door at the end of the hall. He pushed the door open and waited until Harry padded into the room, closing the door after him.

"You can sleep here," Oliver said, pointing at the couch near the wall. "Not the bed though."

Harry glanced up at him then stared at the couch and inwardly shrugged. As long as the couch was comfortable, he was entirely fine with that. He strode over to the couch, put his front paws up onto it and propelled his hind quarters up onto it as well. He sighed when he felt how soft the couch was; this was probably going to be the best night's sleep he would get since... Harry wasn't sure when he had gotten a good night's sleep in the past 25 years but he curled up nonetheless. His eyes were closing when he heard a shower turn on and he was asleep in less than a minute.


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver woke up early the next morning like he usually did, breathing heavily and sweating a little. He knew that whatever had woken him up had not been his dream... or rather nightmare. Until he peered at the bottom of his bed and saw the dog that he had rescued last night. Zeus was sleepily looking up at him, green eyes seeming to see through him.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You woke me up?"

The dog yawned, stared at him briefly then jumped off the bed, sitting down to sniff his hind leg where the wound had been.

* * *

><p>"Oliver, why is there a dog in the house?" Moira asked as her son came into the kitchen. "I was under the impression that we didn't own a dog."<p>

"We don't," Oliver replied, glancing down at Zeus as he trotted next to him. The dog wagged his tail then walked over to Moira, peering up at her then went over to sit by the wall to stare out the window. "I was riding my motorcycle when I saw a group of teenagers harassing the dog."

"Harassing?" Moira repeated, wincing. "I hope you were careful."

Oliver nodded. "The teenagers had already thrown a knife at the dog but I scared them off."

"Who threw a knife at a dog?!"

Thea came rushing in, stopping right before the table. She kneeled down and held out her hand, letting the dog come to her.

Moira smiled. "Oliver apparently rescued a stray dog. Who took care of the knife wound?"

The bandage on the dog's side was still there but there wasn't any visible blood. Thea waited patiently for a minute before the dog did come out from under the table.

"Diggle did," Oliver remarked, grabbing some toast for breakfast. "I think I'll go into work early today. See what I can get done."

"Mom, can we keep him?" Thea asked, looking up at Moira then at Oliver. "You said he was a stray, right?"

"My assistant did scan for any identification and there wasn't a collar," Oliver offered, smiling at the dog. "She also looked up all the shelters within Starling City; they didn't have anything about a missing dog that fit this guy's description. So there's no one missing him."

"Whoa..." Thea whispered, looking at the dog's forehead. "Did you guys see this? It looks like a-"

"Yeah, I saw that too," Oliver said, shrugging a little. "Felicity said his name should be Zeus because of that."

"Zeus? That definitely works," Thea muttered, going to stroke the dog's soft ears. The dog started to pant, tail wagging. "Zeus? You like that name? I don't know, he looks like a Harley to me, beside the obvious name connection."

The dog looked at Thea before looking up at Oliver and tilting his head. The dog's green eyes were narrowed and his ears were pinned down but he didn't move to growl at Thea.

"That's a no, then?" Thea said, grinning widely. "Okay. Zeus it is then. Mom? Please?"

Moira sighed. "You two will have to take care of him. And Oliver?"

"We'll take care of him," Thea replied, nodding.

"Yeah?" Oliver asked, fixing up a cup of coffee as the machine finished.

"Thank John for fixing up the dog's wound," Moira replied.

"Will do. Come on, Zeus. You want to come with me into work?" Oliver asked, watching Thea with a smile. It was one of her real smiles, like the one that she had had when they first reunited after Oliver had returned from the island. Their family had never gotten a dog before so this would be new for all them. "I should probably ask Dig to put clean bandages on that wound too."

"I get him tomorrow," Thea muttered, stroking the dog's back. Zeus's tail wagged lazily, legs stretching out contentedly.

* * *

><p>Harry idly followed Oliver out and into the car again, wondering if the other man was going to his lair again. But then again, if he himself was a master archer who was protecting the city as a vigilante, he would probably work at night, not during the day. Though that was just him.<p>

When they got out, it was to Queen Consolidated, not the bar. The three of them, Diggle included, got out of the car and into the building. Harry sniffed around, not expecting to really smell anything of interest. But when he smelled a certain scent, a scent that he usually could smell when he was around his friends, he stiffened and sped up to catch up with Oliver.

Oliver looked at him strangely then walked into the waiting elevator. Harry followed and sat down, watching out of the elevator door to see if the wizard or witch realized there was another wizard in the building. He sighed in relief when he didn't recognize the wizard as the whoever the scent belonged to came into view. It wasn't one of his friends or a Death Eater.

Before he had more or less fled the wizarding world, he had heard from a reporter that the aurors hadn't caught all of Voldemort's henchmen. There were still a few left, having gone on the run the minute they heard that the Dark Lord had been killed. Harry had... kind of done the same after...

"... Mr. Queen? Your dog?"

"Zeus?"

"Zeus, you okay?"

"ZEUS!"

Harry glanced up at Oliver's voice, finally realizing that his name was being called. His ears had gone down and he had bared his teeth without noticing. He was also quietly growling too, completely without his notice. He consciously perked up his ears and closed his mouth, letting his tail wag quietly.

"Zeus..." Oliver trailed off as Harry glanced around at the other people in the elevator. The three business men in the elevator besides Diggle and Oliver had fully backed up into the corner of the elevator, briefcases held in front of them like shields. Diggle had reached out an arm to hold Oliver back, almost belatedly, and Harry had realized that Oliver Queen had taken a few steps toward him when everyone else had backed away.

"Oliver... I wouldn't do that," Diggle murmured, staring at Harry.

"Dig, it's okay. Look at his body language," Oliver said, kneeling down. "You okay, Zeus?"

Harry whined quietly, lowered his head down and sat, hearing the elevator door open. He yipped once then took off running, zipping right through the door and galloping off.

"Where's Zeus?" Felicity asked as the two of them entered Felicity's office.

"He just ran off," Oliver said, narrowing his eyes. "Could you check the cameras? His wound might reopen."

"Oliver, he growled without any provocation," Diggle remarked. "There might be something else wrong with the dog. Something that would make it a bad idea to keep it?"

Felicity's eyes widened as she glanced between the two men. She stared at Oliver a few seconds more before going to her desk and looking for the security footage. "Ah, he ran... right through the open door to the stairs. Odd, the door... There was no one going through it."

"Felicity?" Oliver asked, walking over to look over what she had found.

"Well, anyway, Zeus ran all the way down the stairs and back to the lobby. Then... the security cameras loose him."

"What do you mean, loose him?" Diggle asked. "I thought you had more cameras installed after Helena came back?"

"Yes, I did," Felicity replied, shuddering a little. "I don't know how they managed to loose sight of a dog."

* * *

><p>When Harry came back to himself, he was back in the lobby. He glanced around as he caught his breathing and steadied it. He sighed. Just thinking about what Dumbledore did to him made him so mad and add to that, having to kill Voldemort when no other adult had attempted to. Screw the damned prophecy. The British Wizarding world shouldn't have made a kid shoulder what he had. And he had no idea whether or not the ministry was going to arrest him for using the killing curse on Voldemort. He had fled the day right after he had done the deed.<p>

Once his breathing was under control, he focused on where he was. He hadn't apparated down to the lobby so how had he... He must have unconsciously used wandless magic to open the door to the stairs.

That had been one of the results of the experiments. Before, his wandless magic had been absent and so very difficult to even attempt. Before, he had been left exhausted by each and every attempt. Now, he was barely winded. Now, it came to him easily. He remembered the look on Oliver's face right before Harry had fled the elevator. The other man had looked at him like he understood. Though, granted, the guy probably thought that 'Zeus' had smelled something that reminded him of the attack last night. And not the thing that had actually set him off.

He wandered out, casting a notice-me-not charm on himself before padding over to one of the corners of the lobby, feeling people watching him. Before he stepped out again, he shifted back to his human form. He glanced down at himself and sighed wearily. He was still wearing the robes that he had left in; he hadn't changed back to his human form since then.

He stopped in front of the security desk, still under the notice-me-not charm. Harry would have to get a job sometime if he wanted no contact with the wizarding world. And perhaps an apartment... Or maybe not. Maybe he could just... He grinned, remembering Oliver's sister's look when she had seen him.

He walked over to a corner of the building that was fairly unseen, checked the area for any cameras, looked around for any people that were looking in his direction then cancelled the spell. A few people glanced at him curiously, a little bewildered but shrugged and went on their way. He moved back to the information desk and asked if there were any job openings, specifically in security.

"You're in luck. There is one opening for day security here."


	4. Chapter 4

Harry pondered the job offer. The man at the desk had said it was a security job but Harry wasn't sure… "Could I have some time to think it over? Maybe an hour?"

"Sure."

Harry nodded then walked off, idly reaching into the small bag that he had spelled to stick to his body. It had survived staying in his animagus form for a year and he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't as good as preservation charms as Hermione was but maybe he was getting better. He looked around for a bathroom and hastily walked toward it.

He changed clothes, cast a cleaning charm on himself and brought out his wand holster, attaching it to his left wrist. Harry also took a look at his wound and made sure it would continue to heal. By now, the wound looked like it was three days old, not just a day old. He cast a disillusionment charm on his wand holster then finally walked out of the bathroom and out of the building itself. The big Queen Consolidated logo shimmered at the top of the building as he walked far enough away to notice it.

He wondered if there was a magical headquarters in the States. He hadn't really thought about that before he had come here. He had really just vanished the day after he had killed Voldemort. He surveyed the street before him, watching the various people go about their day. There were a lot of homeless and street people around and in Starling City. He had noticed that as he had arrived to the city, having stowed away on a truck.

His feet took him to a bench and he sat down after buying a sandwich from a food truck. That was another difference. The States had food trucks, a bit similar to diners or cafes but they were mobile.

He knew that the Verdant and the Arrow's hideout were in the west, closer to the Glades than the richer part of the city. He already knew, regardless of what he did during the day in this city, he would end up shifting forms and joining Oliver at night. He would just have to ignore his attraction to the other man. He didn't even know if Oliver liked guys in the first place. But… he sighed, seeing Oliver and Diggle exit the building out of the corner of his eyes. He had to get an apartment or something. He didn't really want to impose on the Queens to keep him on as a guest when they didn't know what or who he was.

Hell, he didn't even know if the Aurors back home had caught all of the Death Eaters. For all he knew, they hadn't. If they hadn't, some of them could be gunning for him right now. Harry shivered at the thought and not because he was cold.

A chirp brought him out of his thoughts and he turned only to see his oldest friend, a smile growing on his face.

* * *

><p>Oliver stopped as he was walking down the steps from the family business, his eyes narrowing. Directly across the street was a man sitting on the bench right under a tree. Oliver would have ignored the man had it not been for the snowy owl that was sitting on the man's lap. The man, who was wearing jeans and a dark green shirt, was smiling widely. He didn't even appear to be startled due to the owl, in fact, Oliver saw him pull something out of a pocket and hold it out to the owl.<p>

"Oliver?"

"Diggle, that wouldn't be considered normal, right?"

Oliver pointed a thumb at the guy briefly, turning his back to the guy right afterward to not draw attention. That image though, stayed with him. The sight of a man his own age sitting with a snowy owl on his lap was quite striking. The man had had moderately long black hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush or comb in a very long time. Oliver's eyes had even picked up on the fact that the guy had muscles underneath the shirt.

"No, no, it wouldn't," John replied, sounding confused. His eyes were narrowed. "And I don't think I've heard of anyone who uses messenger owls either."

"Messenger?"

"The owl is holding out his leg and it's got something on it," Diggle remarked, eyes wide. "Man, he doesn't even appear to have a cellphone. Who uses owls for communication these days?"

Oliver crossed his arms and turned back around, seeing the man open up a piece of parchment. "I definitely don't know of anyone who uses owls. I'll ask Felicity to look into him tonight. He might be a threat."

Diggle nodded.

The man across the street frowned then sighed, standing up. The owl flew up off of the man's lap and landed back on the guy's shoulder. Oliver watched as the man looked over the street and just as the guy's eyes landed on him, he felt a warm, almost curious breeze flow around him. Oliver raised an eyebrow as it hadn't been windy at all this morning or even last night. Oliver could see that the guy had green eyes that Oliver could have sworn glowed for a second before the other man turned and walked off, owl still on his shoulder.

"Huh," Diggle said.

"I second that opinion," Oliver admitted.

* * *

><p>The letter had been a combined one from his friends and Andromeda. Apparently, the ministry and the rest of the wizarding world was getting less and less patient about his location. It was like they had expected him to stick around or something. His friends had understood his need to get out of Britain but others hadn't.<p>

The package had also included a letter from Gringotts, telling him that he needed to meet with their messenger in Starling City. It was, the goblins said, urgent, more or less. Their messenger would be in Starling City tomorrow afternoon by Queen Consolidated. Harry hadn't actually gone to Gringotts or met with anyone from the bank since a few years ago. He idly wondered what it was the goblins needed to tell him.

As soon as the sun went down and Harry had gotten a bite to eat at a close diner, he shifted shape and ran. He had looked through listings for apartments earlier and had found one that had recently been vacated. It was an expensive apartment, given it had been held by a CEO, but since said CEO had gotten killed by the Arrow, it was now vacant. It was even a mile or two away from the Queen mansion which had pleased him and he had paid for it with an anonymous card that he had gotten from Gringotts.

He huffed out a snort at the memory of meeting the head of building security when he had paid for the apartment.

_"__Don't know why you're getting an apartment that recently was the site of a murder," the guy had remarked while looking at his computer. Harry watched as the security guy swiped a card __then handed it over._

_ "Well, the city police cleared it, right?"_

_ "Yeah. You're aware of the vigilante?"_

_ Harry snorted. "Yeah, I've heard of him."_

_ The head of security looked at him, raised an eyebrow then shook his head and finished typing into the computer. "My name's Frank if you have need of me in the future."_

_ Harry shuddered a little, remembering the memories of the gardener at Riddle's mansion. His name had been Frank too but that had been a while. This Frank was younger, much younger. Maybe middle aged. _

_ "Luckily, you're no CEO. I don't think the guy's going to come after you, especially since you're a foreigner. Why are you here anyway?"_

_ "Vacation. Bad memories," Harry offered. _

_ Frank looked at him then glanced up to where the apartment Harry had bought was. _

_ "I don't mind," Harry said, grinning a little. "I've seen worse than murder."_

_ Frank nodded. "Okay then. Here's your key card. It should get you in through the elevator. Do you have a moving truck with stuff or something?"_

_ "No. It's just me. My stuff is in my car," Harry replied. _

Now all of the stuff that he had kept in the trunk that he had shrunk was all in the apartment, ready to be unpacked. But right now, Harry was more than looking forward to seeing Oliver again. He had caught his eye out of the building and accidentally loosed some magic as he had been looking around the city street. He had the feeling that Oliver had felt some of it, actually felt it, which was unusual for a non-magical person. He wondered what Oliver had been through in those five years he had been gone from the city.

He ran some then slowed down as he ran the last block to Verdant, slowing to a walk as he took in the air. He could hear the sounds of the bar, the DJ playing music and the loud yells and shouts of excited people. He swerved around the building to pad over to the back door and visualized apparating into the basement of the bar.

Harry willed some magic out and thought of the spell for apparition, closing his eyes just as he vanished from the alleyway. He reappeared right inside the door, yipping in excitement. He was so busy smiling at his achievement to notice that the voices in the arrow lair had quieted. He really didn't think that his godfather had been able to perform magic when he was Padfoot.

* * *

><p>Oliver stared at Zeus as the dog sat right before the door. The dog huffed in amusement then appeared to look up at him, doggy smile fading away. Now the dog with the striking green eyes stared back up at him, eyes pleading a little.<p>

"I could have sworn we didn't let a dog in," Oliver remarked, slowly lowering his bow and unnocking the arrow. "And locked the door."

The dog yipped again, tail wagging. There was no sign that the animal had been injured yesterday.

"Oliver! There's another video recording!"

Oliver stared at the dog, sighed, then turned around and went back to the middle of the basement where Diggle and Felicity were. He heard the tell tale sound of claws moving around on tile behind him and grinned a little before turning to his team. "It appears that Zeus found his way home."

Felicity smiled. "He must have a strong sense of smell to have followed you from Queen Consolidated."

The dog barked, as if in agreement, and trotted over to stand in front of Felicity's desk. The three of them watched as the dog peered up to look at the video, ears perked up. Zeus seemed to watch the video then turned back around to stare at Oliver.

"Right, any clue where the video is coming from?" Oliver asked, looking at the computer at Felicity's desk that had the live video. "Where Joseph is filming from?"

"On it," Felicity said as she started to look. Her eyes widened when the camera turned and Roy Harper appeared on screen. "Oh, that's..."

Oliver went over to grab his bow, seeing Zeus watch him. The dog stared at him then up to Felicity then finally took one glance at the computer, and nodded. Zeus barked quietly then went over to stand by Oliver's suit.

"Are you sure that's just a dog?" Diggle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you suggesting that he's what… a werewolf?" Oliver asked, lips twiching up into a small smile. "He doesn't look like a werewolf to me."

"I'm pretty sure werewolves don't exist," Felicity chimed in. "Got the location. It's underground."

Zeus yelped, lay down and put his paws over his muzzle, like he was embarrassed or insulted. The three of them stared at the dog as Oliver went to go get suited up.

* * *

><p>Harry followed Oliver to the back door, looking over the suit that the man was wearing. He hadn't gotten to take a good look at it last night as he had been injured and out of it. But the green suit had more than a few places for weapons. There were tiny dart looking arrows by Oliver's wrists and of course, there was the bow and quiver of arrows.<p>

Oliver stopped by the door then glanced down at Harry, raising an eyebrow. "You want to come with me?"

Harry yipped in agreement, seeing the other man grab a helmet. The helmet too was green, not that Harry had expected otherwise.

Oliver stared at the dog, fingers tightening over his bow. Zeus stared back at him then growled, moving his long legs around. When Zeus was done, the dog looked like he was about to pounce on something. The shepherd looked a lot like a police dog then, a low growl coming from the animal. Oliver though got the impression that the dog wasn't growling at him, if the little wagging of the tail indicating anything. The dog's ears also weren't pinned to its' head either.

Zeus was in that position for another brief second then the dog shook itself and trotted over to stand right next to Oliver. The canine wasn't too close, as to not trip Oliver but it looked like it was ready to protect. "Look, I don't need a guard dog."

Zeus peered up at him, ears flicked forward and green eyes soft.

"Maybe you do need a guard dog," Diggle interrupted as the other man walked over to them. "We both know that having a bodyguard didn't make a lick of difference for you."

"Zeus was injured last night, Dig," Oliver said, as he opened the door. "I'm not taking an injured dog with me, not to mention a dog who probably won't follow my lead."

Zeus whined, huffed out an irritated breath then shot out the door as soon as it opened. The dog barked loudly, anxiously, sitting by the waiting motorcycle.

John laughed. "I have a feeling that Zeus will follow your lead. Go get Roy back."

Oliver stared over at the dog and sighed. "Fine. Hopefully, he won't distract me too much."

* * *

><p>When Oliver arrived at the location that Felicity had given him a few minutes later, he turned off his motorcycle and parked it in an inconspicuous location. Zeus jumped off the back, having sat patiently behind him for the entire ride. As Oliver started to move into the building, he could hear Zeus at his back. Though the dog wasn't making a lot of noise as if the animal could tell that it was time to be quiet.<p>

The dog's quiet sniffs was the only thing Oliver could hear until they went deeper into the building and down a flight of stairs. The building was over train tracks in an older area of the Glades which meant that there was only one reason for Oliver to be hearing a train. He moved through the building until he found a hole big enough to jump through. He glanced at Zeus, who moved up to his side. The dog crawled over to the hole and looked down into it, yipped once and then jumped.

Oliver's eyes widened as he shook himself and then jumped down the hole. "Maybe you were a military working dog, huh?"

Zeus looked up at him, able to see him even in the darkness, barked quietly then growled, turning and stalking toward the train tracks.

Tommy Merlyn watched the shaky video on the tv on the wall at Verdant. Roy was looking worse by the second, pale and he could see sweat on the kid's forehead. Thea was watching anxiously too, standing right next to him.

"You really don't care whether you live or you die?" The kidnapper yelled off screen to be heard over the sound of a train rolling down tracks.

Roy appeared to look at the camera, eyes down and dejected. "No one will miss me."

Thea gasped, tears filling her eyes and Tommy reached out an arm to pull her into a hug.

"Go ahead!" Roy called out.

"Very well."

A loud, angry sounding bark interrupted the recording and they could see Roy's eyes widening. The kidnapper screamed in dismay and the video shook then fell. The news went back to the reporter to say that they had lost the feed.

"He'll be okay, won't he?" Thea pleaded, exchanging looks with Tommy.

Tommy could only nod, knowing that Oliver had made it in time. Though the bark was new.

* * *

><p>Harry watched as Joseph's body slumped down to the train seat then quietly walked back to Oliver's side, looking up at him. He knew that the other man had been killing people. Though this time, it had been Roy getting killed or Joseph. Oliver looked down at him, releasing the tension on the bow then gestured for him to follow. Harry went, turned back to look at Roy, who had gotten loose then extended his magic. The kid wasn't injured, just stressed and full of adrenaline so Harry followed Oliver, but not before willing some magic to slow the train down.<p>

* * *

><p>When Oliver made it out and back above ground, Zeus was right behind him.<p>

"You're not a half bad assistant."

Zeus looked up at him and snorted out an almost amused sounding breath of air then walked off. Oliver watched the dog go, somehow knowing that he would be back the next night.

"Don't get into too much trouble."

Zeus barked again then started to run, turning a corner and disappearing.


End file.
